A HOST OF HEART-WARMING SHOWS FOR THE AUTUMN/WINTER SEASON IN LEEDS
At the end of this month Leeds Grand Theatre begins its Autumn/Winter Season welcoming a host of music, drama, dance and comedy that will take us right up to Christmas.
With goth-tastic timing, The Rocky Horror Show kicks off the season on Halloween! A favourite with the Leeds audience young and old – it has been touring for over 40 years and shows no signs of slowing down – there are few shows where audiences dress up and join in on the scale of Rocky Horror; expect fishnets stockings, basques, red lips, great music and a high energy show as innocent sweethearts Brad and Janet stumble across Frank N Furter and his gang of strange yet sexy characters. Starring Coronation Street’sCharlie Condou as The Narrator and S Club 7 star Paul Cattermole as Eddie/Dr Scott.
Jason Donovan, who coincidentally played Frank N Furter at Leeds Grand many years ago, returns with a very different role in Million Dollar Quartet opening on Monday 7th November.
Million Dollar Quartet is based on the true story of the one-off, impromptu jamming session starring Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash and Jerry Lee Lewis that took place at the famous Sun Studios in 1956. Donovan takes the non-singing role of the legendary record producer, and owner of Sun Studios, Sam Phillips who is credited with not only making each of the young men famous but also getting the four stars together for the only time. As Philips he narrates the story supported by outstanding performances from ‘Jerry’, ‘Elvis’, ‘Johnny’ and ‘Carl’.
Girls Aloud star Sarah Harding and Hollyoaks actor Andy Moss come together to recreate the famous pottery scene in a new production of Ghost The Musical; a love story featuring murder, deception, a ghost and a wonderfully over-the-top psychic the production has music by Eurythmics’ Dave Stewart and a script by the original film’s writer Bruce Joel Rubin.
Starring Eastenders’ Jesse Wallace and John Partridge with Emmerdale’s Hayley Tamaddon, Chicago isbased on real life events back in the roaring 1920s. Nightclub singer Roxie Hart (Tamaddon) shoots her lover and along with cell block rival, double-murderess Velma Kelly, they fight to keep from death row with the help of smooth talking lawyer, Billy Flynn (Partridge) and overseen in prison by the corrupt matron ‘Mama’ Thornton (Wallace).
In 1997 a British film about six out-of-work Sheffield steelworkers with nothing to lose took the world by storm becoming one of the most successful British films ever made; the story of The Full Monty still resonates today. This stage production stars Leeds own actor, Horsforth boy Anthony Lewis (Emmerdale),Gary Lucy (Footballers Wives), Andrew Dunn (Dinnerladies), Louis Emerick (Brookside), Chris Fountain(Hollyoaks, Coronation Street) and Kai Owen (Torchwood).
Bringing the party atmosphere to Leeds in time for the festive season The Commitments brings soul to The Grand on its first time out of London.
This is the story of Jimmy Rabbitte, a young working class music fan, who shapes an unlikely bunch of amateur musicians and friends into an amazing live act – the finest soul band Dublin has ever produced. Based on the film of the same name The Commitments is full of humour, soul and fantastic music. StarringCoronation Street’s Kevin Kennedy (Curly Watts) and cast from the original West End production includingBrian Gilligan, reprising his starring role of Deco, and Andrew Linnie as Jimmy Rabbitte.
Radio 2’s Musical Theatre mogul Elaine Paige presents a ‘stripped down’ gig on Sunday 11th December and on Monday 12th Rock Legend, Queen guitarist, Brian May teams up with another Musical Theatre starKerry Ellis in for an evening of acoustic music in The Candlelit Christmas Concert.
The Grand’s resident company Northern Ballet take their usual Christmas spot at the theatre and this year present Beauty & the Beast bringing the classic fairy tale to life inin a kaleidoscope of colour and set to a score played live by Northern Ballet Sinfonia.